Chapter 12

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My eyes snap open. The room is pitch black. My head throbs in pain. Memories of the night before flood my mind. Confused, I call out. "Thomas? Rachel?"

Then the realization hit me. I wiggle in my seat. But I can only move my torso. My hands and feet are tightly strapped to the chair I'm in. I tug with furious effort, but to no avail. "Rachel! Thomas!" I yell.

Suddenly, a light flickers on in the middle of the dark room. I see a figure with their back turned towards me. My eyes adjust and I see that it's a man. With dirty blonde-red hair. It's Thomas.

His arms are crossed behind his back, and he's staring at the floor. "Thomas!" I scream to him. He doesn't acknowledge me at all. Then, I hear footsteps. A feminine figure walks from the darkness up to Thomas. Her long red hair cascades down her back.

She places a strand of hair behind her ear and I can examine her profile. Haley. She smiles a devilish grin as she grabs his hand. Thomas turns his head towards her.

"Thomas!" I scream once more. But he doesn't even glance my way.

Haley whispers something in his ear, and then he walks away. She then turns and faces me.

She walks up to me, then crouches down so we're eye to eye.

"Brooke, it's so nice to see you again," she says with a grin. "You really thought I forgot about this whole Thomas situation, huh?"

I refuse to make eye contact. I see her grin with evil satisfaction. She then stands up. "You don't have to answer, love," she says. "But just know-" she pauses, as if baiting me to look up. I fell for the taunt. I glance up, and Thomas is back, standing next to her.

"He's mine," she finishes.

Then, the two lock lips. I feel tears slip down my cheeks.

Haley is in my face, once again. "Aw, is someone sad? Good. He never loved you anyway," she spat.

"Shut up!" I yell in frustration. My heart hurt. I couldn't take it anymore.

Then hear her cackle like a witch. I close my eyes. My face is wet with tears. I just want it to stop.

The cackling stops.

"Brooke," Haley says.

My eyes are still shut tight.

"Brooke! Wake up!" Haley says.

Wait, what?

I process the voice in my head. That isn't Haley. I open my tear filled eyes. Rachel and Thomas look down at me. Worry fills their eyes.

"Are you alright, love? It sounded like you were having a nightmare," Thomas says.

I sit up. The living room is just as it had been the night before. Rachel is sitting, criss-crossed by my feet. Thomas is cradling the top half of my body in his lap. It was just a dream. No, a nightmare.

I scoot into Thomas. He wraps his arms around me. I cuddle into his arms. He wipes the remaining tears off my face. "You were screaming my name," Thomas says. "And Rachels'."

"We didn't know what to do. You wouldn't wake up," Rachel says.

Thomas kisses my forehead. "I'm glad you're okay now, though."

I say no more. I just want to stay in his arms forever.

Eventually, we (them) get hungry so we decide to have lunch. I eat some chips. It's all I can get down at the moment. The realistic encounter with Haley in my nightmare still has me frightened.

I stay quiet for the rest of the day. When night falls, Thomas offers to stay up with me to make sure I don't have any more nightmares. Knowing that he has work tomorrow and his hopes ride on this job, I decline. However, he still insists on staying up with me, so after arguing about it, I finally let him do what he wants.

We settle in bed and talk, and eventually the topic of the nightmare comes up. "I'm sorry," Thomas says, noticing my discomfort. "Shouldn't have gone there."

"No," I whisper to him. "It's time that you know what's been bothering me."

I lift up and grab the picture of us- along with Haley in the background- off the nightstand and show it to him. Then I go on and explain how I've been afraid of Haley coming back and striking revenge, blah blah blah.

"Oh, Brooke," Thomas says softly, looking at me with his brown eyes. "I didn't know you still thought about her."

"Well, I didn't until I found that picture," I say, gesturing to it.

He pulls me into a hug. His breath against my neck sends shivers down my spine. "Please promise you won't leave me," I whisper.

"I promise," he says without hesitation. Those two simple words lightened up my heart, and sleep came easily after that.

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Hey guys! crankynewt here!
So wowzers! I am so appreciative of all the feedback I've been getting on this book! YOU guys are the reason I keep writing them! And I thank you guys for that! Wattpad and writing stories has definitely changed my views on books. A newfound appreciation for them, I suppose you could say?
Anywho, just wanna say once again, thank you for the continued support! :) There will be more to come!

~crankynewt

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